Suspensory element forming a support for demountable letters and the like



Oct. 6, 1970 B. H. ADLER SUSPENSORY ELEMENT FORMING A SUPPORT FOR DEMOUNTABLE LETTERS AND THE LIKE Filed June 28, 1968 V H V5 /2 J 4 0 Z8 42 2% 4 26 22 38 0 /NI/EA/TOR .BEMJAM/N H A LER MAHO/VEY & H RA/BA/(E/e A TTORA/EKS United States Patent Ofice- 3,532,317 Patented Oct. 6, 1970 3,532,317 SUSPENSORY ELEMENT FORMING A SUPPORT FOR DEMOUNTABLE LETTERS AND THE LIKE Benjamin H. Adler, Beverly Hills, Calif, assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Tanger Industries, Los Angeles,

Calif., a corporation of California Filed June 28, 1968, Ser. No. 741,047 Int. Cl. G09f 7/10 US. Cl. 248223 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A preferably metal mounting portion having a rearward mounting surface include forwardly projecting upper and lower suspending webs, the upper web being spaced downwardly from the mounting portion upper extremity and the lower web being spaced upwardly from the mounting portion lower extremity. The upper web terminates outwardly in an upwardly projecting flange and the lower web terminates outwardly in a downwardly projecting flange, so that said webs with said mounting portion form upwardly and downwardly opening channels, respectively, and a recessed surface extending vertically between said webs on said mounting portion. The recessed surface receives fasteners through preferably oblong slots to fasten the suspensory element to a mounting member, while the U-shaped channels receive hooks or clips of an object to be mounted.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a suspensory element forming a support for demountable letters and the like and more particularly, to such a suspensory element particularly adapted for convenient front mounting on the generally vertical surface of a mounting member and having a unique cross-sectional configuration for the engagement by hooks or resilient clips of letters and the like to be removably supported thereon. Even more particularly, this invention relates to a suspensory element having the foregoing characteristics, yet which requires a minimum material for the formation thereof.

Various prior forms of suspensory elements for mounting objects, such as demountable letters, on a generally vertical surface of a mounting member, such as a sign, have heretofore been provided. For instance, such suspensory elements are normally elongated and are horizontally secured on the vertical surface of a Sign. Furthermore, such suspensory elements have usually included specific configurations particularly adapted for enr gagement by hooks and clips of demountable letters to be engaged therewith and suspended thereby.

Certain difficulties have been presented by the prior suspensory elements occasioned by the fact that, although certain of said suspenscory elements are plastic and are cemented, a large portion of said suspensory elements are metal or plastic and are normally secured to the vertical surfaces of mounting members by means of usual fastening bolts and nuts, that is, the bolts have normally been engaged with the suspensory elements received in recesses in the rear surfaces thereof, with the bolts passing through the mounting members and being engaged by nuts at the mounting member rear surfaces. The purpose of this recessed rear mounting of the bolts on the suspensory elements is so that the bolts will not interfere with the forward extension and configuration of the suspensory elements required to have particular vertical dimensioning for receiving the hooks and clips of the particular demountable members to be supported thereon. With this use of bolt and nut types of fasteners, it is necessary to have the rear surfaces of the mounting members to which the suspensory elements are secured readily accessible and there are certain occasions when this is not possible, but even if possible, the operation of securing the suspensory elements to the mounting member usually requires two workmen, one at either side of the mounting member.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a suspensory element forming a support for demountable letters and the like which is particularly configured fortotal front securement by fasteners to a vertical surface of a mounting member resulting in the securement operation requiring only one workman to accomplish the same in a minimum amount of time. According to the present invention, the supervisory element is formed with vertically spaced and particularly configured suspending webs projecting forwardly from a mounting portion thereof so as to provide a recess vertically therebetween through which the usual pop rivets may be secured for fastening the suspensory element to the mounting member. Thus, the suspensory element may be totally front mounted to the mounting member and the suspending webs thereof permit the usual engagement by the hooks and clips of the object, such as a demountable letter, to be supported thereon.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a suspensory element forming a support for demountable letters and the like of the foregoing general construction wherein said suspensory element may be formed of metal or plastic and preferably has oblong fastener holes formed through the recessed portion thereof. The suspensory element and mounting member are, therefore, permitted free mutual lengthwise expansion and contraction, despite the rigid securement thereof. Furthermore, the fasteners are hidden totally within said recessed portion and free of interference with the functioning of the suspending webs.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a suspensory element forming a support for demountable letters and the like having the foregoing total front securement and other special attributes, yet which may be formed with minimum vertical dimensions so as to use a minimum amount of material. The previously described suspending webs of the suspensory element form upwardly and downwardly opening channels for engagement by the usual downwardly projecting hooks or vertically spaced resilient clips of the objects to be supported thereon. In view of the fact that only the upper channel is required to receive the object hooks, the lower channel is formed of minimum dimensions since the resilient clips only require such minimum dimensions, thereby maintaining the over-all vertical dimensions of the suspensory element at a minimum and requiring less material for the formation thereof.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification and the accompanying drawing which are for the purpose of illustration only.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, side elevational view of a suspensory system incorporating the suspensory element of the present invention, said suspensory element being secured to the vertical surface of a mounting member, such as a sign, and demountably supporting an object thereon, such as a letter;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical sectional view taken through one of the suspensorey elements in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, perspective view of one of the suspensory elements removed from the suspensory system of FIG. 1.

3 DESCRIPTION OF THE BEST EMBODIMENT CONTEMPLATED Referring to the drawing, an elongated suspensory element incorporating the principles of the present invention is generally indicated at 10 and includes a supporting portion 12 having a generally vertically extending, rear- Ward mounting surface 14 and vertically spaced, forward- 1y extending, upper and lower suspending webs 16 and 18. The suspensory element 10 is of unitary construction and the upper and lower suspending webs 16 and 18 are elongated, preferably coextensive with the supporting portion 12. Furthermore, the suspensory element 10 may be formed of any usual rigid materials, such as aluminum or plastic, and by any usual methods, such as by extrusion or casting with certain parts of the configuration either originally formed therein or later produced by machining operations.

More particularly to the specific configuration of the suspensory element 10, the upper suspending web 16 is located on the supporting portion 12 spaced downwardly from the upper extremities of said supporting portion, said upper suspending web terminating forwardly in an upwardly projecting flange 20, preferably coterminous with said supporting portion upper extremity. The lower suspending web 18 projects forwardly from the supporting portion 12 spaced upwardly from the lower extremity of said supporting portion and terminates outwardly in a downwardly projecting flange 22, similarly coterrninous with said supporting portion lower extremities. The forward extensions of the upper and lower suspending webs 16 and 18 from the supporting portion 12 is substantially equal, but the downward spacing of the upper suspending web along the supporting portion is preferably greater than the upward spacing of the lower suspending web along said supporting portion, so that said upper suspending web with its flange 20 and the supporting portion forms a upwardly opening, generally U-shaped channel 24 having greater vertical dimensions or depth than a downwardly opening, generally U-shaped channel 26 formed by the lower suspending web with its flange 22 and the supporting portion.

The vertical spacing of the upper and lower suspending webs 16 and 18 forms a forwardly opening, generally U- shaped channel 28 defined rearwardly by a generally vertically extending recessed surface 30 on the forward face of the supporting portion 12. At preferably a vertical midpoint 32 of the recessed surface 30, the supporting portion 12 is formed wtih a series of lengthwise elongated or oblong fastener holes 34 uniformly spaced along the length of the suspensory element 10. The elongation or oblong shaping of the fastener holes 10 is particularly important where the suspensory element is formed of metal, such as aluminum, and certain types of plastics, since such shaping permits expansion and contraction of a backing surface despite secure fastening by a fastener through the holes 34.

Thus, the suspensory elements 10 may be positioned on a mounting member 38, such as a flat or corrugated sign or usual flat or corrugated mounting surface, the rearward mounting surfaces 14 of the suspensory elements abutting said mounting member forward surface. Where the fastener holes 34 are formed in the suspensory elements 10, pop rivets may be shot therethrough to penetrate the mounting member 38 and secure the suspensory elements 10 properly in place, while holes 34 still permit mutual expansion and contraction between the elements 10 and mounting surface 36. Where the material of the suspensory elements 10 is appropriate, the pop rivets may be shot directly through the suspensory elements supporting portions 12 and into the mounting member forward surface for such securement, in either event, said pop rivets being indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2 at 40 properly located fully recessed within the forwardly opening channel 28. It is pointed out, however, that other types 4 of fasteners may be used, whether rivets, screws or otherw1se.

Once the suspensory elements 10 are secured to the forward surface 36 of the mounting member 38, objects to be supported thereon, such as a letter 42, may be engaged with the suspensory elements by a usual upper hook 44 and the usual lower, vertically spaced, resilient clips 46. The upper hook 44 is received downwardly in the upwardly opening channel 24, said upwardly opening channel being of appropriate vertical depth for proper reception and engagement of said hook. The clips 46 are received rearwardly and vertically into both the upwardly and downwardly opening channels 24 and 26, such clips not requiring any great vertical depth of such channels so that the downwardly opening channel 26 may be of lesser vertical depth.

Thus, the suspensory elements 10 with the convenient forward access afforded by the forwardly opening channel 28 may be totally front installed on the mounting member 38, the forwardly opening channel 28 providing complete recessing for the totally front installed pop rivets 40, whether through previously formed fastener holes 34 or shot directly through the material of the supporting portion 12. The result is that only a single workman is required to accomplish such front installation of the suspensory elements 10 and the installation operation may be accomplished accurately and efficiently in a minimum amount of time. Furthermore, due to the exact formation of the upwardly and downwardly opening channels 24 and 26 having only the vertical depths necessary for meeting the requirements thereof, the over-all vertical dimensions of the suspensory elements 10 are at a minimum so as to require less material, while still providing for the total front installation as hereinbefore discussed.

It is pointed out that use of the term letter or letters herein is intended to define any form of usual depiction it might be desirable to provide for supporting by the suspensory elements 10 in the manner described, such as, the usual and variously formed alphabetical letters, various symbols, numerals and the like, so that said term or terms should be construed in this broader sense,

I claim:

1. In a horizontally elongated suspensory element for mounting objects on a generally vertical surface of a mounting member, the combination of: a horizontally elongated mounting portion having a generally vertical rearward mounting surface; a horizontally elongated upper suspending web extending generally horizontally forwardly from an upper part of said mounting portion spaced below an upper extremity of said mounting portion, said upper suspending web terminating forwardly in an upwardly projecting flange, said upper suspending web with said mounting portion forming a horizontally elongated upwardly open generally U-shaped channel; a horizontally elongated lower suspending 'web extending generally horizontally forwardly from a lower part of said mounting portion spaced below said upper suspending web and spaced above a lower extremity of said mounting portion, said lower suspending web terminating forwardly in a downwardly projecting flange, said lower suspending web with said mounting portion forming a horizontally elongated downwardly open generally U-shaped channel; said mounting portion and said upper and lower suspending webs being integral forming said suspensory element as a unitary suspensory element; and a recessed forward surface on said mounting portion extending generally vertically between said upper and lower suspending webs, said recessed surface having a series of horizontally spaced and horizontally elongated fastener holes formed therethrough and through said mounting portion having fasteners received through said fastener holes totally recessed between said upper and lower suspending webs and into a vertical surface of a mounting member securing said suspensory element thereto extending horizontally in said horizontal elongation; whereby, a hook of an object to be mounted by said suspensory element may be received downwardly into said upwardly opening channel or vertically spaced clips of said object may be simultaneously received engaged in said upwardly and downwardly opening channels in which said suspensory element has a series of horizontally spaced and horizontally elongated fastener holes formed through said horizontally elongated mounting portion recessed surface and through said mounting portion through which said fasteners are installed; and in which said upwardly opening channel is formed with a greater vertical depth than said downwardly opening channel.

2. In a horizontally elongated suspensory element for mounting objects on a generally vertical surface of a mounting member, the combination of: a horizontally elongated mounting portion having a rearward mounting surface and vertically spaced, horizontally elongated, upper and lower suspending webs extending generally horizontally forwardly from vertically intermediate parts thereof; a horizontally elongated, upwardly opening, generally U-shaped channel formed in said upper suspending web rearwardly against said mounting portion; a horizontally elongated, downwardly opening, generally U- shaped channel formed in said lower suspending web rearwardly against said mounting portion; said mounting portion and said suspending webs being integral forming said suspensory element as a unitary suspensory element; and a forwardly opening, horizontally elongated generally U-shaped channel formed vertically between said upper and lower suspending webs against said mounting portion, said forwardly opening channel terminating rearwardly in a generally vertical horizontally elongated recessed surface on said mounting portion having fasteners installed through said mounting portion totally recessed within said forwardly opening channel and into a vertical surface of a mounting member securing said suspensory element thereto extending horizontally in said horizontal elongation whereby, a hook of an object to be mounted by said suspensory element may be received downwardly into said upwardly opening channel or vertically spaced clips of said object may be simultaneously received engaged in said upwardly and downwardly opening channels in which said suspensory elements has a series of horizontally spaced and horizontally elongated fastener holes formed through said horizontally elongated mounting portion recessed surface and through said mounting portion through which said fasteners are installed; and in which said upwardly opening channel is formed with a greater vertical depth than said dowriwardly opening channel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,290,131 12/1966 Neal 248-476 3,330,518 7/196-7 Adler 248223 3,342,246 9/1967 Riess 16-96 FOREIGN PATENTS 433,519 8/1935 Great Britain.

ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner J. FRANKLIN FOSS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. -125, 

